Persistent Prayer

I used to think that persistent prayer was basically holy nagging. “If God knows my needs,” I thought, “why do I need to ask again?”

Until I asked God for good things and got silence. We needed a job. Then a home. Then a school. And still, we needed a job. Or two. 

Persistent prayer is a faith-filled handing over of my needs. Day by day, over and over again. Why? Because each new day I wake to the same fears as yesterday. And I need Him all over again. And during our year and a half of unemployment, we had the same unanswered need. 

We pray persistently when we care deeply. And He hears. Every one of my prayers, He heard. He hears.  

Persistent prayer follows hope and is nestled next to patience in affliction in the long list of marks of a true Christian in Romans 12. Here’s what Paul had to say:

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in affliction, be persistent in prayer” (Romans 12:12).

Rejoice. There is no antidote to fear like praise. Every day, I’d wake up and listen to the same playlist and bring the same prayers to Him. What’s your persistent topic? Rejoice. Not for it…but in it. In Hope. Because Hope, our Hope, does not disappoint. We will see Him. And here on earth we’ll know His goodness. The joys and sorrows of today don’t hold a candle to the joy we’ll know one day — so borrow from the joy of knowing He wins in the end. He’s on His throne. Praise Him for it and confound the enemy. 

Praise gives prayer the energy it needs to persevere. If I remember who God is, praise Him for it, and find again the grace I need for all my failures, the world is set right. Even in trial. 

But just for today. 

I’ll need to be reminded again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. That’s why I persist. I never stop needing Him to remind me.

Be patient in affliction. We don’t get used to affliction, do we? I don’t think we should. It’s painful, unnatural, and deeply un-good. We know this deep down and He gives us what we need: patience. It’s not us denying we’re upset, saying it’s no big deal, or accomplishing some sort of stoicism to get through. It’s a heavy leaning on the One who infuses patience into our trial. Are you in trial today? Lean heavy. Ask for patience to endure. A soft receiving and deep peace — because we’re not getting used to it. We’re moving through it and we’re still praying the same prayers. But with patience. 

Not only that, but if you ask my kids, practicing patience is easier when there are snacks. So He prepares a table for us. Where? In front of our enemies. Lord knows I’d rather it be elsewhere. Anywhere, actually. A table prepared for me with a boring view is better than a battlefield! But He does this because only an all-powerful God can plunk His servants down at the gates of hell and start a party. He’s THAT in control. If you’re staring down hell today, take comfort —- He can spread your table and support you even there. Maybe especially there. Maybe that’s why we find that trials are where we know His presence the most? 

The fact is, persistent prayer is painfully vulnerable. What if I am in the wrong? What if God doesn’t heal or give or open the way? With shame within and fears ahead, persistent prayer is a battle for faith. 

And if you, like me, think you are annoying to God, as if this is just holy nagging, that He can’t be bothered with you — know that this vulnerable space is good for your soul. It’s the pain of growth. The fertile ground for a strong faith in the goodness of God. 

If you struggle to feel worthy of His care, I’d gently ask you to ask Him to show you just how worth it you are. He will lead you to the foot of the cross and you’ll never be the same. 

So as we look down another week, let’s keep praying. For our kids. For our husbands. For ourselves and our churches and our loved ones. For the leaders of our countries and the leaders of our churches. For the vulnerable and those sent out to full-time work. And so many more. 

Let’s persist in prayer.